Crunch.
Crunch.
Crack.
Crack.
.
When I descended underground, the first sound I heard was noise.
It sounded like something hard being chewed.
Crunch.
Crack.
Crack.
Countless hands were gnawing tightly onto torn-off arms.
From the fingertips to the bone.
Even after devouring all the tender flesh, their hunger remained unsated, and they chewed on the nails and bones like gum.
Just like a dog chewing on a hard bone.
Crack.
Crack.
That chilling sound of nails breaking and bones splintering!
The horrific sound of an evil spirit tearing into flesh with brute force!
And towards the center of that sound, Jinseong made his way.
Bringing along the two warriors who had foolishly fallen into his clutches.
Crack…
Without a sound in his steps, his body made up of bugs moved silently.
It seemed his feet were stepping forward, yet what met the ground was the empty air right above it.
As though he were moving on a shifting landscape, his feet’s movements did not match the speed of his advance.
He moved forward, disappearing into and re-emerging from the darkness, shifting his form without a hint of light, advancing, advancing.
And feeling that presence, the ghost instinctively stopped gnawing on its arm, starting to gauge the situation, shrinking away fearfully as though its master might notice it, curling up into a sphere-like shape.
With a hand clad in high heels, it wrapped multiple arms around itself just in case it made a noise, while heading toward a corner to avoid being seen by its master.
All because the revealed existence had an aura that even ghosts couldn’t help but tremble in fear before.
With countless arms, it couldn’t dare to touch even a single hair, and just by being visible, it bore an intense presence that one simply couldn’t resist.
However, though they were a fearsome master, they weren’t a bad one, which was why the ghost didn’t run away completely.
So the ghost, still holding onto a piece of gum, headed for a corner.
Wishing the attention of that fearsome master would not land on it.
And thinking that perhaps, when that master left, it might be given a good piece of prey.
After all, with so many people caught, it felt like offering at least one organ seemed probable.
Organs, organs…
Soft ones couldn’t be too bad for eating, right?
It didn’t dislike the food it had put in its mouth, but organs were yet another delicacy, wouldn’t they be…?
So the ghost held its breath, pregnant with expectations.
And Jinseong, knowing or not knowing of the ghost’s thoughts, continued forward with the warriors in tow.
Finally arriving at a place.
“Ah, here you are, your companions…”
It was a space filled with a peculiar smell.
Like a forest flowing with blood, one might say?
A mix of the unique scent of phytoncide, the smell of grass, the smell of fresh water, and in between, that distinct pungent smell of blood.
The iron scent stung the nose.
At first, it was hard to discern, buried beneath the smell of grass, but as time passed, it piled up, to the point where one could feel the taste of blood on their tongue. At that point, doubt began to creep in—were they really in a normal location or standing before a scene of carnage?
Though their minds knew there couldn’t be anything like that in this cramped space…
This place was indeed such a location.
Where grass and blood coexisted.
To bloom the beautiful winged cicada lotus.
And in that place were those caught by the ghost.
Not yet nutrients.
Littered on the ground without any connection to any flower.
They were donating their limbs to the ghost’s mouth, writhing on the floor like insects, bleeding profusely.
Their faces were twisted in agony, yet at the same time, perhaps due to not regaining their senses, their hazy eyes were fixed on one spot. Moreover, observing the movement of the muscles in their buttocks and waist, it was clear they were still lost in a fantasy.
Even without legs, they didn’t realize it, continuing to move their bodies as if they needed to walk.
“Well, looks like you were hungry…”
Jinseong smiled as he looked at them.
To systematically tear off every limb.
Perhaps it was because there hadn’t been an intruder recently that they were in a state of pent-up desire.
Or maybe they just couldn’t forget the taste once they had sampled it before and were continually yearning for it.
Thus, when this opportunity arose, they devoured everything neatly.
Well, thanks to that, the two warriors would now lose their most crucial arms and legs as warriors.
For them, it wasn’t a good situation.
But that didn’t mean it was the worst.
If they wore customized prosthetic arms and legs, they could still earn a living as warriors…
‘By the way, when did cyborg technology come out…’
When was it?
There had been a method for augmenting human bodies with machines.
There were machines that observed the outside world, converting it into electrical signals to create another sense, and attachments that weren’t just ordinary prosthetics but robust enough to use industrially. They had attached continuous tracks to amputated feet, or spider-leg-like machines to their waists, after all.
From what Jinseong remembered, it had been started by a company somewhere in America…
‘Well, if they attached those, they could remain warriors.’
If someone were to ask if those technologies were remarkable, the answer would be quite ambiguous.
Compared to the prosthetics made directly by alchemists or wizards… their performance was definitely lacking.
The prosthetics that were born from their hands were truly artifacts.
Products with special powers, moving just like real hands and feet.
But the machines Jinseong remembered were notable for their relatively low production costs.
They yielded satisfactory performance without needing much money… one might say they were cost-effective products.
‘After all, they were made for war. Hahaha.’
Recalling the past, Jinseong led the warriors.
Adding up the one who lost limbs, bringing the total to four.
And making them the same predicament as those esteemed seniors caught before them… just like the Japanese warriors.
In a state of supplying nutrients to the Yixian Qinglian.
“It won’t be too bad. Now that they know their weakness is in spirit, they must strengthen that spirit to remove the weakness.”
Thus, those captured would have their life force drained.
Just as their seniors had previously.
“You will have to meditate. Explore your spirit deeply, and you will achieve your goals. And as a price, you will give your life force, just as your achievements will blossom like flowers.”
Of course, it wasn’t exactly delightful to know one’s life force was being drained.
But… wasn’t it cheap for the price of life?
Even after stepping into another’s house with ill intentions, simply maintaining their lives amidst it counts as mercy.
To have their lives saved by mercy alone would be insufficient, let alone gain something—that was truly astonishing.
It was a treatment beyond what any intruder would expect.
Yeah…
Really, it was.
—
Jinseong headed upstairs.
But rather than heading to the top level as usual, he went to the floor directly beneath.
He didn’t take the elevator, but instead climbed the stairs ordinarily.
Of course, since his body was made of bugs, it couldn’t exactly be described as fully ordinary…
But at least he was in a human form, moving his feet up the stairs like a person.
Though the speed was nowhere near that of a typical person climbing stairs.
Reaching the floor just below the top level, Jinseong dragged an improvised chair over towards the gray wall.
Facing that gray wall, he moved his lips.
And then, as if trying to rip the flesh from his face, he extended his nails and scraped down the skin of his face from top to bottom.
As a result, countless bugs revealed themselves.
Tightly packed to maintain a human face, the bugs split apart at Jinseong’s gesture, exposing their insides, bustling about, and scuttling to repair themselves. Countless legs wriggled, and their sharp mandibles clicked threateningly as if to intimidate.
Jinseong then inserted his hand into the split.
Waving around as though searching for something…
Squeak.
Eventually, he pulled out a single larva that made a menacing sound.
It was a white larva the size of a human finger, resembling a common grub.
Jinseong firmly pinched it between his fingers and pressed it against the wall.
Squish.
And smashing it against the wall, he used its bodily fluid as paint to draw a pattern on the wall.
A pattern that looked like either a bug with wings or a human mouth.
Ziiiiing—
The engraved pattern vibrated slightly as it emitted light upon Jinseong’s neck.
“Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah—”
The effect of the newly engraved pattern was related to voice.
It would make an unnatural voice a bit more natural.
Specifically, it would make the foreboding and slightly unnatural voice of the bug-made doppelgänger sound more like the real deal.
Jinseong changed his voice to “natural” and then took out a smartphone.
He dialed a number on behalf of his main body, which couldn’t even leave America due to being held for questioning in a place cut off from the outside.
[Hello?]
“Did you make it home safely?”
To Iarin.
